|
BARNES 5:21 - Verse 21. Ye have heard. Or, this is the common interpretation among the Jews. Jesus proceeds here to comment on some prevailing opinions among the Jews; to show that the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was defective; and that men needed a better righteousness, or they could not be saved.
Matthew 5:22: How does Jesus respond? (Does he concur or counter the "ancients"?) With a contrast "but I say" (In fact in all 6 instances in Mt 5:21-48 Jesus counters what the people had been taught with "but I say to you"...little wonder that He prefaced this section with the "Divine Disclaimer" that He had not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill and neither would He teach anyone to annul the least of the commandments. He is simply explaining the full meaning of the Law, a meaning that was apparent in the "whole counsel" of the Old Testament, if the religious leaders had really desired to find the truth.
www.preceptaustin.org/sermon_on_the_mount_7.htm
JFB 5:21 - To us it seems as plain as possible that our Lord's one object is to contrast the traditional perversions of the law with the true sense of it as expounded by Himself.
Clark 5:21- But it is very likely that our Lord refers here merely to traditions and glosses relative to the ancient Mosaic ordinance; and such as, by their operation, rendered the primitive command of little or no effect.
BARNES - Mat 5:34-35 - But I say unto you, Swear not at all - That is, in the manner which he proceeds to specify. Swear not in any of the common and profane ways customary at that time.
Gill - Matthew 5:22 - But I say unto you,… This is a Rabbinical way of speaking, used when a question is determined, and a false notion is refuted; it is a magisterial form of expression, and well suits with Christ, the great teacher and master in Israel; who spake as one having authority, opposing himself, not to the law of "Moses, thou shalt not kill"; but to the false gloss the ancient doctors had put upon it, with which their later ones agreed.
Mark Copeland holds the traditional view on MDR, yet he has some good material on his web site that explains the texts that some use to try to show that Jesus contradicts Moses. Mark states, “Jesus is responding to traditional interpretations of the Law, not the Law itself; I.e., what had been taught by the "traditions of the elders" Note His preparatory remarks: "You have HEARD that it was SAID..." Referring to oral traditions rather than the written Law.”
If you follow the link below be sure to click on “next article” to get the whole study.
http://executableoutlines.com/matt/mt5_17.htm
Don Martin, another preacher who holds the traditional view, ably teaches against what Pat affirms. Here are some quotes from his article:
“Rather than challenging what the Law actually taught, Jesus is refuting what they said the Law taught.”
“If we do not understand the intent of the six instances of, ‘But I say unto you’ and the thrust of the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, we cannot even begin to grasp the full meaning and intended truth.” One wrote regarding these matters:
"Jesus gave the full meaning of the law and the prophets in regard to personal morality. The scribes and Pharisees had perverted the righteousness which God has always expected of His people (see Matthew 5: 20). Their representations as to the meaning of the divine ethics were misleading the people and Jesus set about to correct them. To consider the Sermon on the Mount as the charter of a new and different system of morality for God’s people is to ignore the obvious meaning and declaration by Jesus himself (Matt. 5: 17, dm). This analysis is confirmed by what Jesus said toward the end of the sermon: ‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7: 12)" (War and Conscience, Allen Isbell, p. 142).
To see the entire article follow the link: http://www.bibletruths.net/Archives/BTAR369.htm
Also see my article responding to the above article: http://www.totalhealth.bz/divorce-and-remarriage-but-i-say.htm
|
